"You wanted a hug, no?" she said, voice even and emotionless as ever, but there was the tiniest upward curl at the corner of her mouth.
Before I could react, she had suddenly flown straight at me and embraced me tightly—her small breasts under that thin white dress pressing firmly against my torso, arms wrapping around my waist with surprising strength for her size.
She had initiated the hug. Oh, lucky day for me.
But wait, wait, wait!
"How… did you...?" I started to ask, genuinely confused how she knew I wanted to cuddle her.
"Oh?" She pulled back just enough to look up at me, her obsidian eyes squinting in that rare, mischievous way that made her look almost playful. "If you think so much out loud like that, any spirit-form would hear you."
Ah, of course.
Kuzunoha had said something similar back when we first met; spirits picking up stray thoughts like radio signals if you weren't careful shielding them.
